Fracking hearing scheduled for Thursday has been postponed

A hearing on the controversial drilling practice known as hydrofracking scheduled for Thursday has been postponed.
The Environmental Protection Agency hearing was scheduled for Binghamton, then abruptly moved this week to the Oncenter convention center on State Street. Sandy Baker, vice president of sales and marketing at the Oncenter, said city and county officials met this morning and decided they didn't have enough time to prepare for the large crowd expected.
Baker said more than 1,500 people had signed up to speak, and potentially several thousand more planned to attend or stage protests outside the Oncenter.
"We really had to make sure we could handle this safely and securely," Baker said.
EPA has not rescheduled the hearing yet, but said it hopes to have the hearing in Upstate New York in September.
The New York hearing is to be the fourth nationwide to to obtain public input before conducting a research study into potential adverse impacts that hydraulic fracturing may have on water quality and public health.
EPA officials said the final day of meetings, originally planned for Binghamton, was moved to Syracuse after lease negotiations with Binghamton University broke down at the last minute. EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck said the university’s price increased more than 500 percent from its original estimate.